Longhorns’ road woes continue
NORMAN, Okla. — First, consider the time spent on airplanes and buses. Then figure in the varying hotel accommodations, the altered practice schedules, the unfamiliar meals and the hostile road crowds.
Add all of that up, Texas guard Demarcus Holland said, and the Longhorns still don’t have one measly excuse.
“I don’t think any of those variables have anything to do with us losing on the road,” Holland said after a 77-65 romp by Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.
Instead, the only explanation Holland and the No. 24 Longhorns had for their fourth consecutive road drubbing involved their own shortcomings. Specifically, they blamed the lackluster play of their six guards, who combined to miss 15 of their first 17 shots and finish the game 7-for-26 with nine turnovers.
While the Sooners (218, 10-6 Big 12) were lifted by 41 combined points from the backcourt duo of Isaiah Cousins and Buddy Hield, UT got little but sloppiness from its perimeter players.
The developing problem for the Longhorns (21-8, 10-6) is Saturday’s woes weren’t new. Their six guards played just as badly last week at Kansas (where they shot 6-for-37) and have not been nearly as effective away from the Erwin Center as they have in it.
“For some guys, they don’t play with the toughness they should on the road,” UT coach Rick Barnes said.
The result is a team that has lost its last four road games by an average of 17 points. Saturday, in front of 9,107 fans, the Longhorns fell behind by seven points at halftime and then were buried by a 13-4 OU run — highlighted by 11 points from Hield — early in the second half.
“I guess it’s mental,” Holland said. “We’ve got to take it into our own hands and be smarter.”
The smart move for the Longhorns lately has been to run everything through center Cameron Ridley, who delivered 19 points and 14 rebounds against the Sooners. But aside from frontcourt mates Jonathan Holmes (11 points) and Connor Lammert (nine points), Ridley didn’t get much help.
And Barnes said he was “irritated” that his guards — including Isaiah Taylor, Javan Felix and Holland — didn’t do more.
“Those guys should be playing H-O-R-S-E on the perimeter, because every- body’s guarding (Ridley),” Barnes said.
Ridley, who followed a 20-point, 10-rebound effort against Baylor on Wednesday, said he’d like more responsibility, although he stopped short of calling out his teammates.
“You could say I want the ball more,” Ridley said. “But at the same time, if they have shots, I wouldn’t mind them taking them.”
Holland said that despite their recent lack of production, the guards “are not afraid” to play on the road. And he disputed the idea that the Longhorns’ four-game road losing streak bodes poorly for their postseason.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a trend,” Holland said. “We haven’t reached our peak at all.” mfinger@express-news.net twitter.com/mikefinger